A Lamb in a Lion's Den
by browneyesx3
Summary: Bella is the owner for Sweet Swans, a catering bakery. Edward is the head of the Cullen Mafia. What happens when their paths cross? Edward wants her, and he always gets what he wants. Rated M for adult themes, language, and future sexual content.
1. Dinner

**Chapter One: Dinner**

 **Summary:** Bella is the owner for Sweet Swans, a catering bakery. Edward is the head of the Cullen Mafia. What happens when their paths cross? Edward wants her, and he always gets what he wants. Rated M for adult themes, language, and future sexual content.

Author's Note: This is basically Sweet Swan and the Mafia, my old mafia story that I have deleted, concept. Just different.

* * *

 **BPOV:**

I was sitting in my office going through the order that I had for Sunday when I heard the loud clanking on my hardwood floors. "Hey, Rose!" I called out.

"Hey, Bells." She sat down on the chair across from me. "Do you have an order to bake?"

I nodded. "I need to start baking for Sunday. It's the charity event for Seattle Children's hospital." Rosalie nodded. "It is all cookies, so I can make the dough really late tonight because I won't bake them until tomorrow. What can I do for you?"

Rosalie gave me a funny face. "Well..." She paused. "Would you be able to come to dinner with me tonight? Emmett wants to meet you. His brother and sister, Edward and Alice will be there. Alice will be there with her boyfriend. I am getting close to all of them, and I would love for them to get close to my best friend too!"

I just looked at Rosalie. I really wanted to meet Emmett because he put the sparkle back in Rosalie's eyes after Royce took it from her. "Okay. I will go." I paused. "Where are we going?"

She smiled and squealed. "Thank you, Bella. Emmett is important to me, and so are you. We are going to Sapori d'Italia." My jaw dropped. Sapori d'Italia is stupidly expensive, but I quickly picked up my jaw.

This is for Rosalie.

"What should I wear?" I raised my eyebrow at her. I don't really go out to places like Sapori. Hell, I don't really go out since Sweet Swan is on the rise. I mean I have a few dresses, but they are too casual for Sapori d'Italia.

Rosalie smirked at me. "I know what is in your closet, and I am telling you that they will just not do." Oh, here we go. Bella Barbie. "So change out of your ratty pajamas and let's go shopping!"

I looked down at my pajamas. I was wearing cotton pajama shorts and a tank top. "For your information, my pajamas are not ratty." I stood up and walked upstairs to my bedroom. I changed into skinny jeans, flip-flops, and a simple black v-neck. As soon as I turned to leave, I saw Rosalie standing there shaking her head. "What?"

"Nope. Nope. Nope." She walked into my closet. She came out with black ankle booties and a red kimono. I just sighed and put them on because I knew that we were not going to leave until I did so. I rather get this done sooner rather than later.

After being tortured at the mall for three hours, Rosalie dropped me off at home. I spent the next few hours getting all of the ingredients together before I got ready for dinner.

I showered, curled my hair into soft waves, put on makeup, and got dressed. "I don't look that bad," I told myself. I was wearing a black dress. The top of the dress was all lace that had cap sleeves, a small dip in the chest, and keyhole back. The skirt was just a black skirt. No lace, no bells, and no whistles. I finished off the look with nude ankle strap heels.

I quickly grabbed the necklace that I got from my Papa and put it on. I heard my front door open, so I quickly grabbed my purse and went downstairs. "Ooh. You look gorgeous," Rosalie said.

"Thank you." I looked at her outfit. She was wearing a tight red tank dress with gold heels. She makes the dress look good. "You look cute too." I locked up my house as we walked outside. "Uh. Where is your car?"

Rosalie giggled. "We are riding in style." She grabbed my hand and led me to this dark Escalade. "Garrett, meet Bella. Bella, meet Garrett, Emmett's driver."

What does Emmett do that he needs a personal driver?

"I'm so excited for the two of you to meet. I'm kind of nervous. I don't want anything to go bad tonight." She sighed. "I must warn you. His brother, Edward, can be a little bit of a dick."

I grabbed Rosalie's hand. "Everything will be fine, Ro. If Emmett makes you happy, I'm happy. He has put something back in your eyes that was taken away." Rosalie started to get tears in your eyes. "None of that."

She laughed and wiped her eyes. "Okay." The two of us sat in comfortable silence. We walked inside, and we immediately went into this back seating area. Rosalie's eyes lightened up when she saw this big burly man. "Hello, Darling." Emmett gave her a big sloppy kiss on the cheek.

It was childish but cute.

Emmett made his way over to me. "Hi, Belly." He picked me up and gave me this huge bear hug. "It's nice to finally meet you."

I laughed as he put me down. "It's nice to meet the big Emmy." His face dropped at the nickname. "Call me Belly. You get Emmy."

He laughed really loud. "I like her."

"Emmett, act like a gentleman." I turned my head to see this gorgeous Adonis looking man. I seriously wanted to dropped panties for him. Adonis man stood up and walked to the chair that was across from him. "Let me remind my brother what manners look like." He pulled my chair out for me. "Edward."

"Bella." I shook his hand, and a shock ran up my arms. I sat down, and he gently pushed my chair in a little bit for me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said with a wink. He sat down across from me between Emmett and another man.

"I'm Alice. This is my boyfriend, Jasper," I smiled at the two of them. "What do you do for a living?"

I smiled thinking about my career that I was so proud of. "I am a caterer. I own Sweet Swan."

Edward looked at me. "What cuisine do you work with?"

"Baked goods. I strictly do baking." I grabbed the menu, and my heart almost stopped. The prices are so expensive. Don't get me wrong. I have money, but I would never spend this much on a meal just for myself.

"Why made you want to do baking?" Jasper asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"My Nonni and Papa basically made my decision for me. I would stay at my Nonni's house all the time because I just did. My Nonna and I would bake day in and day out together. Nonno and Papa would always critique any new recipes that my Nonna and I would do." I could feel the tears coming. "It was basically those memories that made me start my own business. It was either Sweet Swan or Swan House Flipping." The tears fell down my face. "I'm sorry." I wiped away my tears.

"House flipping?" Edward asked to change the subject for me.

I nodded. "My Nonno flipped houses for a living."

Alice looked interested. "I've always wanted to flip a house. I just don't know how."

I laughed. "It's actually not that hard." I paused. "Well from what I could do. I designed with Nonna when I helped out. Nonno and Papa worked with the construction aspect."

The waitress came over to us. "Hello. Welcome to Sapori d'Italia. Can I start you guys off with something to drink?" Everyone ordered wine that sounded expensive while I got water because I have to be up late.

"No. She will actually have a glass of Moscato," Rosalie said. The waitress nodded and left.

"Ro!" She just looked at me innocently. "Just one."

She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Thank you."

"What is wrong with wine?" Emmett asked.

I sighed. "I have to be up late tonight to start baking for Sunday." Emmett looked at me. "Every year, I would do what I call a donation bake for Seattle Children's Hospital. I asked the hospital what dessert they would like to have. I am doing cookies this year. It's just something that puts smiles on the kid's faces when they are going through something that brings them down."

"I think that is very admirable," Edward said.

The waitress came back with the wine. "Are you all ready to order?" We all nodded and gave her our orders. I was getting excited for my Spaghetti Carbonara.

"Enough about little ole' me. What about you all? What do you do?" I asked. I just stared at Edward. I wanted to get to know him.

"Well, I own a bunch of restaurants, clubs, and casinos. Alice, Emmett, and I are Italian." My body and soul just melted to mush.

An Italian man.

"Any restaurants that I would know?" I smirked at him.

"Oh, Tesoro. You are sitting in the first restaurant that I ever built." He gave me a wink.

My heart fluttered at the nickname - Treasure.

"I own a few gyms and clubs," Emmett said. Edward had a flash of irritation on his face.

"I own Pixie Couture and Kiddy Closet," Alice said. I noticed that Edward's face calmed a little bit. I guess he has a soft spot for his sister.

I nodded at her. "I have been in there with Rosalie before. It's a really gorgeous shop."

She smiled. "Thank you!" She squealed. "It's my baby." I sighed. "You okay?"

I groaned. "I'm between two fashionistas. The store owner and the designer."

Alice laughed. "Oh, Bella. I am a designer too. I just design the clothes for Kiddy Closet. I have more fun designing kid's clothes."

I nodded. "Nice."

"I am a business partner with Alice for her clothing stores, and I own a few different shops as well." He didn't divulge into the semantics of his shops, so I didn't feel like I needed to press it.

Suddenly, our food came out. I guess owning the restaurant has its perks. I took a bite of my carbonara, and I moaned. This is delicious. No one else was paying attention to me besides Edward. His emerald green eyes darkened as I moaned out. "Okay, Edward. I have eaten a lot of carbonara throughout my life, but I have to say this is some of the best that carbonara that I have put in my mouth."

Edward smirked. "The best?" I shook my head. "Whose carbonara is the best, then?"

"Nonna's carbonara," I said with a wink.

Edward put his steak knife down. "I will have to try it sometime, Tesoro."

"Maybe." The rest of the meal was spent with some light conversations between Edward and I. It was like each duo was in their own little world. I learned that Edward speaks fluent Italian just like I can. He sang quite a few praises about his mom. It is refreshing to see a bond like that since Rosalie and I lacked that bond growing up. I also learned that Sapori d'Italia is his prized possession.

There was something about him, though. It was like I was meeting the mask, not the true Edward.

The waitress walked over to us. "How was everything?" We all nodded. "Good. I'm glad. Have a good rest of your night, guys."

I looked around. "Did she leave a check?" I didn't see a single piece of paper on the table.

Edward raised his eyebrow at me. "You think that I would let a beautiful Tesoro pay for a meal? This is my restaurant. Don't worry about it."

I raised an eyebrow back at him. "Beautiful Treasure, huh?" I paused. "Okay, I see you, Principe Azzurro."

He chuckled. "Oh, Tesoro. I am far from Prince Charming."

After that, we all stood up to head out. Edward stood next to me in a protective manner. I don't understand it, but I let it slide. "It was nice meeting you, Bella," he said as he walked me to the Escalade.

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "You too, Edward." I got in with Rosalie, and we were on our way back to my house.


	2. A Little History

**Chapter Two: A Little History**

It's been a few days since I met Edward, and he has been all that I could think about. Well, not him really. His gorgeous emerald green eyes. I can't get them out of my head.

On top of that, the cookies for Seattle Children's went by really well. It made me feel really good seeing the smiles on all of the kid's faces when they saw the cookies. The Chief of Staff was blown away by the number of cookies that they got. It was a good trip this time.

I was getting ready to walk into Kiddy Closet to meet with Alice and Emmett to talk about a future order when I was suddenly stopped by someone. "Excuse me." I tried to walk around the woman, but she moved along with me. "Excuse me," I said a little louder because maybe she didn't hear me.

"Who do you think you are?" She asked me as she gave me a cold hard glare.

Well, it wasn't really hard or cold, but I figured those words were better to describe the glare. This woman's face looked like she was mad, but yet, she didn't want to show it due to the poor Botox in her face.

"I don't even know who you are." I couldn't help but feel dumbfounded. I don't know this lady from Adam, but yet here she is. "Now, can you please excuse me? You are in my way."

Seriously.

She scoffed. "I will get you, Isabella Swan." She quickly turned and walked away from me.

"How the hell do you know my name?" I called out after her. She just ignored me and got into a black Suburban. I don't know that ungodly looking woman, but she knew who I was.

"Bella?" Alice's voice said to bring me out of my daze. "Are you okay?"

I shrugged. "Some lady just got in my face and asked me who do I think I am. As she was leaving, she said my name."

Alice's face flashed a look of fear. "Did you know her?" I shook my head no. "What did she look like?"

"Very poor Botox in her cheeks. Blonde hair. Older lady." Alice looked scared for a moment. "Alice, do you know her?"

She shook her head no, but I could tell that she was lying. "Come on. Let's go inside." She led me inside Kiddy Closet. I will let this subject go for now, but I will be bringing it back up to her later. "As you know the reason that I asked for you to come here today is that I wanted to know if you could do a party for me."

She led me back into her office, and I immediately stopped in my tracks. Sitting at the larger table with Emmett was Edward. "Ciao, Tesoro," Edward said.

Swoon.

"Ciao, Edward." He stood up and pulled my chair back for me like he did at dinner. I sat down. "Grazie."

"Hey, Belly!" Emmett said and gave me this goofy grin as he sat in the chair.

"Emmett," Edward warned. Emmett shot out of his chair and pulled it out for Alice. She huffed and sat down. I guess she didn't like to be left in the shadows. "I apologize for surprising you, Tesoro. My meeting ended earlier than expected," Edward said to me once he sat down.

"It's no big deal. The more the merrier." Edward gave me his mega watt crooked smile, and I almost fainted. "What can I help you three with?"

Alice stood up straighter and took charge over the two men. "Our Mama and Papa's anniversary is coming up. It is coming up to be their 40th wedding anniversary. This year, we decided that this year we would take charge in planning the thing." Alice paused. "Would a background on their love be helpful for anything?"

I sat there pondering for a few moments. I nodded. "It all depends on what you would like for me to do." I paused. "Plus, I love a good love story."

Alice giggled. "Me too." She started the story. "My Papa, Carlisle, met my Mama, Esme, when they were babies. It is dated back generation after generation of Cullen and Platt's being friends. So, it is destined that Mama and Papa to be together." Edward gave her a pointed look that I almost missed.

 **Almost**.

"Anyways, Papa is 5 years older than Mama. He watched her grow up, and he became very protective of her as she got older. Mama always told me how annoying Papa was when he was being super protective of her, but she always said that she appreciates it." I could feel the intense stare from right, so I turned my head to see Edward looking at me with his beautiful emerald eyes. I felt my cheeks heat up as I turned my attention back to Alice. "Back in the day, there weren't really any rules about the age of consent for marriage. At 16 and 20, Mama and Papa had a very beautiful wedding. From the pictures that Mama showed me, Nonna Elisabeth and Nonna Gia did a very good a job. They had Edward. They adopted Emmett and I. They had the family that they wanted and dreamed of."

I didn't know that Emmett and Alice were adopted.

She sighed. "You would not be able to tell that they have been married for this long because they are still in the honeymoon stage."

Edward nodded out of the corner of my eye. "I have seen a lot of marriages, and they paled in comparison to my Mama and Papa."

I lifted my eyebrow at him. "I think one couple can." Edward looked at me to continue. "My Nonni. They are the only couple that I had growing up. My egg donor left when I was a newborn, she couldn't handle the stress of raising a daughter. She left in the middle of the night without a trace of what her plans were. My Papa was working the night shift because he was a police officer, so she left me all alone for about 5 hours before Papa came home. He always told me that when he got home, he didn't even care that she left. He was just worried for my heath because no baby should be left in her crib, hungry, and with a full diaper. My Papa was so disgusted with her that we moved out. Plus, he needed the help. We moved in with Nonni." A few tears fell. "I always grew up knowing that a wife is to be treated like a Queen and an equal. I never once witness a fight or argument between my Nonni. It was beautiful." Edward reached out and wiped away the tears. "I'm sorry. I get emotional thinking about them. I miss them." I shook my head. "This is not about me."

Edward shook his head. "I love hearing you talk about yourself. I want to know more."

I turned to Alice ignoring Edward's comment. "What can I do to help you with the anniversary?"

"We wanted to do this for their 25th wedding anniversary, but they went to Italy. We decided to do it now. I have no idea what we are doing yet, but we would love for you do the dessert for them because we can't bake worth shit. Mama can, but it skipped this generation."

I laughed. "I used to not be able to bake at all, but Nonna could. We would practice." Alice nodded. "What are you guys planning on doing for food?"

Emmett put his two cents in now. "We were talking about having food from Sapori, but that doesn't really seem personal since they have had it a lot. Mama loves good home cooking. We should hire someone to cook for the meal. Let us have the night off to celebrate with Mama and Papa, but yet have that home cooking feel. I'm wondering if we should do something like that."

Alice gasped and turned her head. "Emmett Marco Platt-Cullen, you are a genius." Alice turned her head to me. "I guess that is the plan for the dinner."

I laughed. " I grabbed out my binder that has all of notes, contracts, etc. in it. "As you know, I am a strictly baking caterer. We have had this conversation at dinner the other night. I can do any dessert that you would like, but if it is one that I have not done before, it will cost a little more because I always make double to have a taste check." The three of them nodded. "Plus, if you wanted something that I have not been able to do, I ask that you give me at least two weeks before the event to practice." They all nodded again. "You are probably wondering why I have a big ass bag."

"Wasn't going to say anything until anyone else mentioned it," Emmett said and chuckled.

I stuck my tongue out at him before I continued. He just laughed even more. "I never go to this meetings without something to show for." I grabbed out some forks and plates. "I know that the all of you are Italian. We discussed this before." All three of them nodded their heads. I decided to come with a few traditional Italian desserts."

Emmett chuckled and clapped his hands together. "Hell yeah, Belly."

I grabbed out my container of cannolis. "Now, I do an assortment of cannolis. I have the traditional cannoli, but I also have pistachio, candied orange, and white chocolate." I put the big ole' container that has the cannolis in the middle. All three of them tasted all four of kinds.

I couldn't look at Edward with a straight face as he licked the ricotta off of his fingers. It was hot.

I smiled. "Are you guys ready to move on to the next?"

Emmett nodded with ricotta all over his lips. "Let's do this."

I grabbed out my container of Italian wedding cookies. "These are my Italian wedding cookies with a lemon glaze." Once those were gone, I moved on. "I have brought you a few pieces of cakes." I grabbed out the first one. "The first cake that I have for you is my cannoli cake. It is a vanilla cake with a traditional ricotta filling. This cake, I don't put icing around the cake because I like for my clients to see the layers like you do an actual cannoli. I do put the filling on the top with crumbled cannoli shells." They all tried it.

"Fucking delicious," Edward said. Alice and Emmett nodded their heads in agreements. Alice made a little noise of contentment.

I could feel my cheeks burning fire at this point. I had to take another pause before I continued on. "The second cake that I brought for you all is an amaretto cake with a raspberry buttercream." I could tell on their face that they liked it but not as much as the cannoli cake.

"Bella, this is good. I just keep wanting to go back to the cannoli cake," Edward said.

My heart swelled with pride. This is the first cake that Nonna and I thought about doing together.

"The third cake that I bought for you all is a chocolate cake with cherry filling, vanilla buttercream, and covered with chocolate curls. It's a traditional black forest cake." They all tried that one, and Emmett moaned out loud. "All right. I know how Emmett feels about that one."

"Sorry. I love a black forest cake." He paused for a moment before he shook his head. "You know what, I am not sorry."

Edward and Alice shook their head at him while I giggled. "Okay." I grabbed out my fourth and final cake. "I have red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting."

I smiled at Edward because he dropped the fork on the table like he dropped the mic. "Delicious, Bella."

I blushed. "Thank you."

"Is this all you brought, Bella?" Alice asked as she rubbed her stomach.

I shook my head. "I gave you the best for last." I grabbed out my tiramisu. "This is a traditional tiramisu." All three of them dug into the cake quickly.

Emmett threw his head back. "OKAY!" He yelled out.

Edward looked at his brother and sister. "All right. I know what I think we should do."

Alice nodded. "I think that we should do the traditional cannoli and tiramisu. Those two are Mama and Papa's favorite dessert." Her brothers nodded in return.

I nodded my head and got out the contract. "How many cannolis would you like? How many would you the tiramisu to serve?"

Edward looked at Emmett. "Rosalie coming?" Emmett nodded, and Edward started to do some math. "I think about 25 people will be there. Double both of them. 50 cannolis. 50 for the tiramisu."

"Okay. My cannolis run at 4 dollars an hour while my tiramisu runs at 4 dollars per person." I said.

"Bella, money is no problem," Edward said. Edward and I got the paperwork in order while Alice and Emmett finished the desserts. "Do we have everything in order?"

I nodded. "We do." We all stood up from the table, and I quickly cleaned up. "I will see you guys in two weeks."

* * *

I sincerely apologize. My laptop is completely shot. Plus my dog ate my charger. Then work has been busy. I am hoping to have chapters uploaded more frequently.


	3. Meeting the Parents

**Chapter Three: Meeting the Parents**

I was starting to get the ingredients ready for the dessert that I was doing for Edward's parents' anniversary when my phone started to ring. "Hello?"

"Tesoro," Edward said.

My heart fluttered at the sound of his voice. "Edward, hey. How are you doing?"

He chuckled, and it made me want to melt. "I'm good. How are you?"

I smiled. "I'm good. I'm getting ready to start the desserts for tomorrow."

"Good. We agreed on what desserts again? The traditional cannoli and the tiramisu?" I heard Emmett screaming something in the background. "Emmett, shut the hell up."

I giggled because that seemed to be the general conversation between the two of them. "You are right. Are those still the desserts that you would like?"

"Yes it is. I wanted to give you the gate code for my parents' place." He told me the five numbers. "All you have to do is pull up to the round-about in front the the front door. I will someone waiting by the front door for you. I have it where you are arriving a little bit after the private chef that we hired for the night. Alice picked out the platters for them to go on. I guess she texted you the other day to talk to you about it. I guess she has three." I nodded my head even though he could not see it. "There is a table that you could put them on as a display. Is there anything that you need to set up on sight?"

"I don't have anything to assemble on sight, but if you would like I could garnish them. I always have a stash of edible flowers on hand or I could do something with fruit." Is it selfish of me to hope that he likes that? A part of me wants to be around him as much as possible.

Edward was quiet for a moment. "That sounds like a good plan to me."

I could have sworn that my heart skipped a beat.

"All right. Well if that works for you, it works for me. I need to get off the phone here," no matter how much I don't want too, "and get started on the desserts for your parents' anniversary."

"Sounds good, Tesoro. I will see you tomorrow. Where something that you would wear out to dinner like you did the first night that we met." He hung up the phone.

Huh? I guess I have to do what the customer wants.

I just shrugged to myself and got back to baking.

I woke up the next morning nervous like I do any other time I have an order going out. Last night, I fried up the cannoli shells and made the lady fingers for the tiramisu. I decided to throw in a free amaretto sheet cake for them. I got the cake, buttercream, and raspberry jam filling made for that last night.

My plan for this morning is to make the cream and coffee/brandy mixture for the tiramisu, assemble the tiramisu, make the cannoli filling, assemble the cannolis, and put together the amaretto cake.

Time to get to work.

A couple of hours later, everything was done and put in the right boxes to transport to the dinner. "Bella!" I heard as my front door opened.

I laughed. "Kitchen."

I heard the clanking of Rosalie's shoes on my hardwood floor. "Can I stay here after dinner with Emmett's family tonight? My mom is in Seattle for a business meeting. I told her she could stay, but I wasn't going to be there." She looked at me with a guilty face. "I'm sorry. I should have asked you before I told her."

I gave Rosalie a friendly smile. Rosalie doesn't have a good relationship with her mother after her parent got a divorce. The sad thing is that her mom doesn't even care how Rosalie feels about her. "It's fine, Rosalie. I know the situation with your mother."

She gave me a huge smile. "Thank you, Peaches." She sat down at the island. "Emmett told me that they hired you on for dessert." I nodded. "What did they order?"

"Cannoli and tiramisu. I am giving them a free amaretto sheet cake." She licked her lips. "The cake is for everyone! Not for you to have one piece and take the rest home."

She threw her head back. "You never let me live that down. It was one time." The two of us laughed about it.

"Edward called me yesterday to double check the desserts. He told me to wear something like the night we first met." I bit my lip. "Why do you think he wants to me to wear a nice dress?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he wants you as his date?" My heart stopped. Could he? "Do you have a dress to wear that is not the same dress? Or do you have that one." I felt my cheeks heat up. "Isabella Marie, is there something that you need to tell me?"

My cheeks heated up even more. "Well. I might have gone out to get a few more dresses a few days ago. Just in case, you invited me to dinner with them again."

Rosalie smiled. "Look at you. Buying dresses without me." Her smile dropped. "You went shopping without me." She gave me a playful glare. "I will get you back for that at another time, Swan."

I held back an eye roll. "Will you help me choose?" Rose didn't reply. She just yanked me out of the kitchen to my bedroom. I sat on my bed and waited for her to come back out of my closet.

"GOT IT." She came back out with a cap sleeve navy dress. It was tighter at the bust, but flowed to my mid-thigh. My favorite part about the dress is that it had a floral design stitched into the dress in navy as well. "I am very happy with this choice, Bella." She wiped away an imaginary tear. "I'm so proud."

I just shook my head at her. "I think that I am going to wear flats. I don't want to drop the desserts."

She shook her head no like she was a bobble head. "This dress would look amazing with nude heels. Get in the shower to start getting ready. I will be in the guest bathroom getting ready."

A few hours later, I was leaving my house with the desserts, and Rosalie in tow. "I hope they like these."

"I thought that they did?" She paused. "Oh, you mean the parents."

I nodded. "Have you met them?"

"Yeah, they are super nice. Carlisle is a little stand-offish at first, but he relaxes after awhile."

That makes me feel a lot better. "I mean, I shouldn't be concerned outside of a business standpoint. Like making the client happy."

Rosalie sighed. "Bella, if Edward didn't want you to make a strictly business impression, he would have been fine with you wearing your pants and chef coat." I nodded. "I am sure that he will ask you to be your date tonight."

I feel like there is something she is not telling me. I just shrug it off for now.

Rosalie gives me directions to the Cullen Estate. Castle would be a better word for it. What do his parents do to own a place like this?

Are they in the mob or something?

I shook my head at that ridiculous thought. "Damn."

"My thoughts exactly when I saw this place." I followed Edward's directions, and I was greeted by two large men, Garrett and someone who I have yet to meet. "Hello, Garret."

"Miss Hale." Garrett turned to me. "Miss Swan meet Edward's driver, Ben."

I smiled. "Hello, Ben."

"Miss Swan." Okay. That was not a very friendly greeting. "Mr. Cullen advised us to grab the desserts."

I nodded, and I showed them the goods. "I will grab this one." They just turned around as I grabbed the extra cake that I threw in there. The four of us walked inside, and I was led straight to the dining room.

"Ciao, Tesoro." I looked up to see Edward standing there with his panty dropping smile. "Three desserts?"

I smiled. "Ciao. Since Alice went through the trouble of getting three platters, I decided to make an extra dessert on the house."

Alice, Jasper, and Emmett walked in the room followed by two people who looked a lot like Edward.

Oh. The Cullens have good genes.

"Rosie!" Emmett made a big notion of picking Rose up and spinning her around. He put her down and walked over to me. "Hi, Belly."

"Hi, Emmy." He pouted but gave me a hug. "How are you?"

"Good now that I have dessert." He winked at Rosalie. She shook her head in embarrassment while the blonde man slapped him on the back of his head like Agent Gibbs does in _NCIS_. "Papa!"

"Emmett, that is not how gentlemen are supposed to act in the presence of women." He walked to me. I could feel Edward tense up next to me. "Hello, I'm Carlisle. This is my wife, Esme."

I smiled and shook their hands. "Bella. Nice to meet you."

Esme pulled me in for a hug. "My children don't stop raving about you." I could feel my cheeks heat up. "Please tell me you are here as Edward's date. He mentioned that he talked to you about it."

I turned my head to Edward in confusion. He just cleared his throat. "Can you all give Bella and I a minute? I am going to help Bella set this up." Everyone left the room with smirks on their faces. "How would you like this to be set up?"

I gave Edward a smirk of my own. "You mean the dessert or me as a date that I didn't know about?"

He cockily grinned at me. "Well, you are here. I wouldn't have it any other way tonight."

I grabbed a piece of caramel out of the candy vase they had on the table and threw it at him. "You sly dog." The both of us laughed. "I guess I don't want to waste a good outfit."

"Bellisima."

I blushed. "Let's get these desserts out." We set up all of the platters and I garnished them when everyone walked back in.

"I thought it was two?" Alice asked.

"It was, but I threw the amaretto cake in for free."

"Thank you," Esme said. "It all looks so great."

There was a small pause before he heard commotion coming from the kitchen. The men went into the kitchen while we all stayed in the dining room. Suddenly, there was more shouting in Italian. By what I am hearing, the chef that was hired on to cook for tonight was being incompetent.

The men came back in. "Is everything okay?" Alice asked.

"Sapori it is," Emmett said.

Rosalie leaned in my ear. "According to Emmett, they really didn't want to use Sapori, and the personal chef that they normally use is on vacation."

I really wanted this night to go well for Edward and his family.

Rosalie and I nodded to each other, and we somehow slipped by all of the Cullens who were busy trying to fix this problem.

When we walked into the kitchen, I saw what the problem was. The chef they hired on took the easy way out by using pre-made ingredients. Canned sauce. Already prepared meat. Boxed noodles.

"Even I am insulted," Rosalie said. I nodded my head in agreement. "Bright side."

"What?" I looked at her confused.

"Now, I can show Mr. and Mrs. Cullen that I can be a possible wife to their son."

I smiled. "Let's see what we have to work with."


	4. Sort of Success

**Chapter Four: Sort of Success**

As Rosalie and I looked through out the kitchen, we decided to tally up all the stuff that we could make. "The other night that you two met, Edward said that he wants to try Nonna's carbonara." I shook my head. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "That is something that I would like to make for him when it is just us two."

Rosalie smirked. "You want to try it out with him?"

I felt my cheeks heat up. "I don't know." I had to pause for a second to gather my thoughts. "I think so."

Rosalie smiled. "I'm happy for you." She analyzed the food again.

"What are you two doing?" Alice asked as she walked in. "You two are guests. We don't make guests cook our food."

"We know how important it was for you all not to choose Sapori, and it is wrong to make Esme cook on her anniversary dinner," I said.

"So, don't make a fuss. When are the other guests supposed to get here?" Rosalie finished off.

"Thirty minutes," she said. I could see the panic in her eyes. "I'll help." She opened up a drawer, and she tossed the both of us an apron. "What are your plans?"

I shrugged. "All I know is that dinner will not be ready in 30."

Everyone else walked in. "What's going on?" Emmett asked.

"We have dinner handled. You all just go in the main room and relax," Alice asked.

Edward walked over to me. "Tesoro. You dropped off the desserts, and now you are here as my date. You don't need to do this."

I grabbed my handy hair tie, and put my straightened hair up. "You did tell me that you wanted to taste my food."

Edward chuckled. "Yeah, but I meant when it is just the two of us."

I quickly kissed his cheek. "Desperate time calls for desperate measures. Now, when the guest arrive you let them know dinner will be a little later than expected. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but su." **(Out)**

The men and Esme left. I couldn't help but notice the smirk on Esme's face. "So, Bella. What is the plan exactly?" Alice asked.

"So since everyone is expecting to have something to eat when they get here. Let's start off with an appetizer, Bruschetta, and a salad. I am still thinking on the actual dinner." So, I remember in the meeting for their order, they said that they are expecting 25. What the hell can I make in like 45-1 hour for 25?

"So, Rosalie. Do you want to make the bruschetta while I do the salad?" Alice asked. Rosalie nodded. She loves to make bruschetta. It is something that she did with her Nana before she passed. "Bella, if this helps, this group loves a lot of meat' and a lot of pasta."

The lightbulb went off.

"Oh. I was way overthinking my ingredients." I looked at Alice. "Would it be insulting if I made just a regular spaghetti and meatballs?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, spaghetti and meatballs is one of the first things that Mama made for Papa."

I smiled. "It won't exactly be here recipe. It is my Nonna's."

"Let's do this," Rosalie said. For the next 30 minutes, we cooked our asses off. Rosalie made her famous Bruschetta with Tuscan topping. Alice whipped up a Caprese salad. I made homemade sausage and veal meatballs and started making the sauce for the spaghetti and meatballs.

Jasper came into the kitchen. "Ladies, the guests have arrived. Edward said to have all 3 of you come out to greet them."

"I will stay back and work on getting this stuff done. Alice and Rosalie. You go ahead and go out. Take the appetizers with you." Jasper shook his head. "What?"

"Edward requested all 3 of you." I wanted to wipe the smirk off of his face.

"Well, he can get over it." Jasper chuckled and left with the other two.

I went back to working on dinner. After a few minutes, The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. "I can get over it, huh?" Edward wrapped his arms around my waist. "Tesoro, I don't like it when someone defies my orders."

I turned around to face him. "Well, I guess that it is a good thing that I am not just someone."

Hopefully, I'm not.

Edward looked me up and down. "You are way more than someone to me."

I tapped his nose. "Am I?"

He put his mouth against my ear. "You are mio Tesoro."

I blushed and bit my lip. "I think I might have to see it to believe it."

"I will give you the world, plus more. I will move mountains for you," He huskily whispered in my ear.

"Questa è una grande promessa, Edward." **(That is a big promise, Edward.)**

"Trust me, baby. I plan on keeping that promise." He kissed my cheek, and he let go of my waist. I immediately missed the feeling of his arms. "I will let it slide that you didn't listen. Just this once." He winked and left the kitchen.

Oh my god. I think I need to change my panties.

The girls came back into the kitchen. "The starters are going off with a hit. What else needs to be done?" Rosalie asked.

"Garlic bread and noodles." Alice and Rosalie got to working on the last little bit. Another 30 minutes went by and dinner was done. I plattered all of the meatballs in one bowl and the pasta in another. "Ready?" We each grabbed a bowl and went into the largest dining room that I have seen in my life.

"Who is this brunette beauty?" One of the guests asked.

I saw the immediate scowl on Edward's face. "This is Bella, Garrett. She is the one who did the desserts when you saw when you entered the small room before you entered this room. She is also Edward's date for the evening," Carlisle said in a warning tone. I put the plate bowl done. "Everything looks great, Bella. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Mr. Cullen." Edward pulled my chair out. "Thank you," I whispered. I finally got a good look at the people around the table when I saw her. I saw the lady that stopped me outside of Alice's shop. She didn't even give me a look like she awkwardly approached me the other day.

Rude.

I brushed her off. "Bella meet the Denalis. Carmen and Eleazar Denali, Kate Denali, Irena Denali and Vincent Novak, and Tanya Denali. Meet Daphne Denali-Anderson, Eleazar's sister." Esme said. "Her husband John."

Huh. Her name is Daphne.

"Bella meet our parents. This is my Mama and Papa, Elisabeth and Rafael. This is Esme's Mama and Papa, Gia and Giorgo."

I smiled. "Ciao. Piacere di conoscerti." **(Nice to meet you.)**

A huge smiled formed on Rafael's face. "Puoi parlare Italiano?" **(You can speak Italian?)**

I nodded. "I learned Italian and English at the same time. Nonna made sure of it."

That seemed to make the elder generation happy. "What about you, Rosalie?" Elisabeth asked.

"Sì. La mia Nonna aveva le stesse idee di Nonna Vera." **(Yes. My Nonna had the same views as Nonna Vera.)** Rosalie and I smiled at each other. We lost both of Nonna's around the same time.

"How long have you known each other?" Carlisle asked.

"Oh. It goes back generations. Our great-great-great grandparents," I looked at Rose for confirmation. She nodded, "Grew up together in Italy. They came to America together. It is kind of in our blood to be friends. She was there when I was born at just 6 weeks old."

Rosalie laughed. "Nonna Vera and Nonna believed it was our destiny to be best friends just like them."

"What about your moms?" Esme asked.

I sighed. "I haven't seen her since I was a baby." I shrugged. "I don't even care to know her."

Esme looked at Rosalie. "I don't care for my mom either. She made poor decisions that had a ripple effect on my family. I don't care to be around that." She looked at Emmett. "She is at my place right now. Which is why I am staying with Bella tonight." Emmett nodded. I guess he knows the story.

"What about your dads and Nonni?" Giorgo asked.

"Mi Papa passed away when I was 16. Nonna passed away when I was 18. Nonna passed away when I was 21, so two years ago," I said leaving it at that because I could feel my throat and heart get heavy.

"My Papa is in Forks, where we are from, taking care of my Nonno. My Nonna passed away when I was 18," Rosalie said.

"I'm sorry that I asked," Giorgo solemnly said.

"You're fine." I, truthfully, did not know what to say. I felt Edward's hand on my thigh. He softly rubbed his thumb to comfort me. I held on to his hand.

"Well, I am hungry. Let's say grace," Carlisle said. We all bowed our heads. "Dear Lord. We pray to you to bless this food that Rosalie, Bella, and Alice made. We say Thank You for these gifts that we are about to receive. Amen."

"Amen."

Out of respect, we all let the couple of the night make their plate. Then, we let the elder generation get their plates. Finally the rest of made our plates.

I didn't realize that I was hungry until I took that first bite. "Delicious, Ladies," Esme said. "It's nice to know that my children can pick the right partners."

It looked like Daphne held back an eye roll. I met the other guests, and they seemed a lot nicer than Daphne.

I will have to keep my eye on her.

"You three ladies did a fantastic job," Emmett said. He added the extra slurp of a noodle.

I felt Edward lean into my ear. "This makes me wonder if you taste as deceduta." **(Decedent)**

I think my insides just melted out of my body.

The rest of dinner was spent with light conversation. About an hour later, everyone was ready for dessert. "Let me grab them."

"I will help," Daphne said.

Okay?

The two of us walked to the desserts. "You can grab the tiramisu," I told her.

"Must suck to be here alone with no family," she said and walked back to the others.

I had to give myself a minute, but I guess that was too long for Rosalie. "Are you okay, B?"

"We will talk later," I whispered. The two of us nodded. She grabbed the cannolis while I grabbed the cake. "Here you all go. All of the desserts were distributed to the guests.

Besides me.

What Daphne said really hurt my feelings.

Rosalie kept her eyes on Daphne. She, obviously, knows that she said something. I guess everyone can because Edward kept giving me concerned glances.

"No dessert for you, Bella?" Gia asked. "Delicious, again."

"I'm still full," I lied.

Edward placed his hand on my knee to comfort me. I could feel the tension bloom as the night went on. We all moved from the dining room to different areas of the house. The women went into the nice sitting room while the men went into the office.

Around 10, I was ready to go home. I walked over to Rosalie, who was in the middle of talking to Kate. "Rose, are you ready to go home?" I whispered.

She nodded. "We can."

The two of us walked over to Esme and Alice. "We are going to head home to give you all some family time."

Esme nodded. "Come walk with me to let the gentlemen know." I nodded. The two of us started to head up the steps. She stopped us halfway there. "Bella, are you truly okay?"

I shook my head no. "Daphne said something that I didn't appreciate it."

Esme sighed. "That cagna has too much Botox that her brain is becoming plastic." **(Bitch)**

I just left it alone at that. We walked to the office, and she knocked. The door opened to reveal the men smoking cigars and drinking scotch. "Hello, Love," Carlisle said.

"Gentlemen, Rosalie and Bella are leaving. Edward, will you walk Bella downstairs?"

"Of course," he said. I said goodbye to the gentlemen and went downstairs with Edward and Emmett. Emmett made a bee-line for Rosalie. The four of us walked outside to my car. "Will you be home tomorrow, Tesoro?" I nodded. "Good." He kissed my cheek. "Thank you for everything tonight, baby," he whispered. "I will talk to you tomorrow."

I decided to be bold and softly kiss him on the lips. "Bye, Edward." I got into my car. Once Rosalie got in, I drove home.

 **Edward's Point of View:**

I watched as Bella drove away. "Is Belly okay?" Emmett, my bafoon brother, asked.

"No, but I am going to get to the bottom of it," I vowed. Something hurt my beauty, and I will figure out what or who. Emmett and I went back inside to see that the Denalis and the other guests were leaving. "You all leaving too?"

Eleazar nodded. "Yeah. It's getting late. Your Nonni are still in the office with the others."

I nodded and said goodbye to our guests. Once they all left, Emmett and I went upstairs to the office. "Why are they leaving this early?" I sat down the couch next to Nonna Gia.

Mama stood next to Papa , and she sighed. "First thing, I approve of the two women that you two want to bring into this family. I could not ask for more perfect ladies for you two." Mama turned to Alice. "I have approved of Jasper for years." Alice smiled and kissed Jasper's cheek. "Second thing, I asked Bella what made her so upset." Mama got my full attention. "She told me that Daphne said something that she did not appreciate."

"I knew it," Alice said. We all looked at her confused. "When we had the meeting at Kiddy Closet, Bella was approached by Daphne. She said that Daphne knew her name."

"Did Bella know Daphne?" Papa asked. "How do you know it was Daphne?"

"Bella said she had too much Botox," Alice said and sighed. "I didn't say anything because I wanted to confirm it before I told you, Edward."

I ran my fingers through my hair, and I stood up to look out the office window to see the last of the Denali's cars leaving.

What is on Daphne's agenda?

 **Bella's Point of View:**

"Bella," Rosalie said when we walked into my house.

"Let's go change into pajamas. Meet me in the living room." I walked upstairs to change. I put on my black shirt and short pajama set.

I just started sobbing. Daphne was right. I am alone. I don't have any family. I walked downstairs to see Rosalie already there. "Bella, what the fuck?" She said in a final tone.

"I'm alone. I have no family. You are all that I have left." I slowly walked over to the couch and sat down. "Please don't leave."

Rosalie held me. "Did Daphne say this?" I cried and nodded. "That cagna." **(Bitch)**


	5. They Know

**Chapter Five: They Know**

It has been a week since the incident with Botox Betty. Needless to say that it took me a bit to realize that I'm not alone.

Rosalie and I met at least four times this week to just talk. Alice has joined us a few times. Edward and I have been talking this whole week about anything and everything. He even sent me a big bouquet of white roses. He has brought up the fact that he promised me the world.

He has been really sweet.

I walked outside the house to see that Rosalie's car was in my driveway. "What are we doing again?" I asked as I got into her car.

"I didn't get to finish my piece from earlier today, and I don't want to be there alone," she paused, "you don't have to work, do you?"

I shook my head no. "Nope, this week is my off weekend for some reason."

She nodded. "Okay." We drove about 20 minutes outside of Seattle to Rosalie's studio. "I have a skirt that I can't finish because I can't figure out what is wrong with it. I am hoping that if you try it on, I can see it better."

"I can do that," I said that and nodded. We arrived to her studio, and I felt that there was something off in the air. I shook my head and followed her inside.

"So, this is the skirt." she held up a very light blue floral print skirt. "I just don't know what is wrong with it. Please, go put it on."

"Yes, boss." I changed out of my jeans to the skirt. I looked at it in the mirror. The bottom of the skirt kind of sat at at awkward length. It ended lower than my knees but above my ankles. "Weird length."

She immediately went to work to make the skirt knee length. "How are you and Emmett doing?"

Her cheeks blushed. "We are good. He brought up marriage." My jaw dropped. "Yeah."

"What did you say? Like how did he bring it up?" My heart is soaring for her.

"He asked about my thoughts on it. I told him that I would love to get married at the right time. We were having lunch at his shop the other day when he brought it up. I mentioned that he had to ask Dad's permission first." She smiled. "I thought was I was going to die when he said the word, marriage."

She started making more adjustments to the skirt. "What does he think about it?"

Rosalie smiled widely. "He wants it. Emmett said that he was just waiting to bring it up to me." She sighed. "There is something that he is hiding from me."

I did a double take. "What do you mean?"

Rosalie shrugged. "I don't know. There was something in his eyes that I haven't seen before."

I nodded. "I get the same thing with Edward."

"How are the two of you doing? Are you two even dating?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

My hands automatically flew up in the air. "I don't fucking know. We talk all of the time, but we haven't been out on a date. There is something that he is hiding too."

"Do you have feelings for him?" I nodded. "I'm happy for you." I blushed. "Thank you, Bella. You can change now."

I changed back into my jeans and handed her the skirt. "Dinner?"

She nodded. "I'm down." Rosalie locked up, and we headed to her car. To get to her car, there is a small alley which is dark.

"Hello, beauties," a ragged voice say. We just kept walking away from him. "I was talking to you." He put his hands on Rosalie's hair and pulled her back. "Don't walk away from me, bitch."

Rosalie screamed as he pulled her to him. "I got you, Ro!" I looked around for something to hit him with.

"It's been a minute since I had my dick in something this sexy," he said to her.

I had to hold in my vomit as I grabbed a metal pipe. I turned to see he was holding Rose by her throat against the wall with one hand and rubbed himself with the other. I saw red. I stalked over to him and swung the pipe as hard as I could. He fell to the ground. Rosalie went behind me. "What should we do?" She asked hysterically. "I need to call Emmett. He might know what to do."

I just stared at the man, and I started crying.

"Emmett," I heard behind me. "I was attacked by my shop." Pause. "Bella is with me." Pause. "I'm not okay, but Bella stopped it." Pause. "Bella hit him with a pipe. We think he is dead." Pause. "I don't know what to do." Pause. "Okay. Please hurry."

I looked at her. "What did he say?"

"He will be here with Edward, Jasper, and Carlisle." She put her hand on my shoulder as the man started to stir. We screamed and scooted to the wall. "I hope to God that they get here soon."

"Why aren't we going back inside?" I asked.

Rosalie shrugged. "I don't think I can move." The man shook his head and sat up. "Emmett please!" She cried out.

It took a minute for the man to come back to reality. He looked at me and glared. "You stupid bitch," he said. He got up and slowly walked over to me.

I tried to move, but my body froze. He threw his fist back and hit Rosalie in her stomach which made her bend over in pain. He threw his fist again and hit me in the face. The man took turns beating Rosalie and me.

I fell to the floor just as I heard Edward. "Bella!" He called out. The man's fist dropped from hitting me in the face. "Get away from them," Edward said in a cool harsh tone.

Next thing I know, Emmett passed Edward. "You son of a bitch." He threw out a fist and hit the man.

Edward then took his turn hitting the man. "Why did you go after these two?"

Emmett punched him. "Why did you think it was okay to do that to **my** girl?"

The man was stumbling from the hits. "I watched them walk into the shop. You know how hard it is to get pussy while being homeless? Sometimes you have to take it." He grabbed the metal pipe from earlier, and he lazily swung at the guys. The two of them grabbed something out of their pockets. The homeless man turned white. "Who are you?"

"Edward and Emmett Maseni," Edward said. There was a bang, and the man fell with to the ground with two bullet holes. His dead eyes stared straight at me.

I looked at Edward who was making his way to me. "Ed..."

Everything turned black.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I reached out my hand to turn off the alarm. When I reached over, I felt a shooting pain in my hand. "Owe," I cried out.

I opened my eyes to see Edward looking at me concerned, and I felt the panic rising in my chest. "Tesoro, please. Calm down. You are in the hospital. Your body shut down from shock. You were asleep for a day." He reached out to me, but I flinched. He frowned and immediately took his hand back to him.

"Why did you and Emmett call yourselves Masen? Why did you kill a man?" I spat out. My heart rate sped up. "Where is Rose?" I started to frantically looking around for her.

"Tesoro, she is safe. She was discharged yesterday. Rosalie left an hour ago. She will be back." I let out a sigh a relief. "Maseni was Nonno Giorgo's father's name before they came to America. They changed it to Cullen to allow them to start a new life, so to speak. They wanted to run the family how they believed it should have been ran in Italy."

The family?

The guns?

My heart stopped. "You are the mob. That is what you two have been hiding." My face dropped. "You are not going to kill me now that I know. Are you?"

Edward immediately shook his head. "Isabella, I promise you that you are safe. You are under **my** protection."

I turned my head to look away from him. "Can you get the doctor for me?"

I heard him get up. "Yes." He was by the door when he turned around. "I promised you the world, Tesoro. I meant it."

"I need time to wrap my head around everything. Can you please give me that?"

My heart shattered at this point.

His body tensed up, and he turned to me. "Anything."

 **EPOV:**

I got the doctor for my Bella, and I left the hospital. I assigned Ben to watch over her, so she wouldn't get hurt again.

I made my way over to my parents' house. Knowing my family, they would be upstairs in my Papa's office. "Hello, son," he said as I entered.

I looked to see that Rosalie was sitting there looking nervous and in pain. Bella got the most hits to the face while Rosalie got the hits to her stomach. "How is she?"

"Bella is awake. She asked that I leave her alone for a bit." She nodded. "She knows about Maseni."

My parents nodded. "Well can we trust her?"

"Yes," Rosalie said without missing a beat. "I'm still trying to wrap my head at the fact you are in the mob, and I am still here."

"We aren't in it," Papa said. "We are the mob. Edward being the head of the family."

"Do you have any idea how she is taking it?" Alice asked Rosalie.

Rosalie sat there for a minute. "Papa Charlie was the chief of the Forks Police department. She was raised to believe that nothing good could come from people who don't particularly follow the rules." Rosalie paused. "When Bella gets involved with someone, she is in it. I knew that she was in it for you the day of the anniversary dinner."

"How did you know?" Jasper asked.

"She made amaretto cake for free," Rosalie stated as a fact. "Amaretto cake is the first thing she ever baked with Nonna Vera. It hold a special place in her heart. The last time she made that cake for free was for my 21st birthday, two years ago."

Mama shook her head. "It is hard to realize that the both of you are so young, and you both went through some stuff."

Rosalie nodded. "She went through a lot more than me. My family is basically the only family she has left. She went through losing Papa Charlie, to losing Nonna Vera, to an abusive relationship, and to losing Nonno Leo."

Wait. "What do you mean abusive relationship?" My blood ran cold. How dare abuse my Tesoro?

"It was not a physical abusive relationship. It was mental. I won't go into that detail. That is her story to share with you." She paused. "The both of had two different abusive relationships. She has told me that she sees the light back in my eyes with Emmett. Edward, I can see the same thing in her eyes with you."

"Just need to give her time," Mama said.

My phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, boss. Bella was discharged. She took an Uber home," Ben said. "She walked into her house and has not left."

"Okay. Update me if she leaves her place." I hung up the phone. "Bella was discharged."

Rosalie got out her phone. I guess she wanted to call Bella. "Hey, Babe." Pause. "How are you?" Pause. "He went after you more than he did me. My wrist is sprained and I have a few bruises on my stomach. What did the doctor say?" Pause. "Okay. If you need to go somewhere, I can take you." Pause. "Yeah." Pause. "Edward understands that you need time." Pause. "Do you want me to come over to chat? I'm with the Cullens." Pause. "I'm fine." Pause. "I will be over soon." She hung up.

"What did the doctor say?" Papa asked.

"The doctor said that it will take a little bit before the pain will go away. She is not comfortable with Bella driving for a few days because of the headache that Bella has. It could be from the hits to her face. She has to wear a bandage on her nose for bit to help swelling go down."

My hands clenched in a fist. I wanted to bring that bastard back to life just to kill him again.

 **Author's Note:**

Sorry about spelling and grammar. I don't have a laptop at the moment, so I am writing this on my phone.


	6. Heart and Brain

**Chapter** **Six: Heart and Brain**

I was sitting on my couch drinking a hot cup of chai tea when Rosalie walked into my house. "How long have you known?" I asked her before she could say anything.

"Honestly, this morning. I asked him why Edward said their last name was Maseni not Cullen," she replied. "How are you doing with everything?"

I shrugged. "It is a lot to take in after you got beaten by someone in an alleyway."

Rosalie let out a pity chuckle. "I know. Do you think you are going to continue on having a relationship with Edward?"

I gently rubbed my eyes. "I don't know, Ro. Are you going to stay with Emmett?" She nodded. "Can you explain why?"

"I knew the real Emmett before I knew him to be in the mob. I fell in love with his heart before I knew about anything else." She shrugged. "Yeah, this is something serious that he kept from me, but he is still my Emmett."

I nodded. "I get it." I shrugged. "I know Edward, but not the extent that you know Emmett."

Rosalie agreed. "Edward seemed worried. He hopes that you two will work out."

I stared down at my mug. "I hope we do to, but this is a lot to take in."

Rosalie paused for a second. "Do you want to go to Forks? I want to go see Nonno. You can go visit your dad? I know that helps you."

"I don't want to make you drive there," I said no matter how badly I wanted to go.

She shrugged. "It's no big deal, B. Nonno has been asking to see me." She paused. "Plus, I would feel better if I got away from Seattle for a few days."

I gasped. "I'm so selfish." She looked at me confused. "How are you?"

Rosalie looked torn. "I'm fine with the new information about the Cullens. During the beating, all I could think about was Royce." I frowned. "I kept telling myself that I could get through this beating because I have been through it all before."

"What do you mean?" I paused. "I mean, I know that he was abusive, but you never told me the details."

Rosalie started to get teary eyed. "Every blow that he put to my stomach, I thought that I could make it out alive since I went through that 10000 times worse than with Royce." Her lip quivered. "Then I thought about all the times Royce put me through hell. Then I got to thinking about Emmett."

"What do you mean?" I asked her with a broken voice.

"I got to thinking that if Emmett was going to come save us, I didn't want him to get to us and I be dead." She paused. "When I was beaten by Royce, I believed that every beating would kill me. If not that one, then the next one." She wiped her eyes. "I went back to that. When he kept hitting us, I thought that the first hit was going to kill me. If not that hit, then the next one."

I wiped away tears from my eyes. "You know what? I think a trip to Forks would be perfect."

Rosalie nodded. "How about we go now? I can text Dad to let him know that we are on our way. I should probably let Emmett know too." She huffed. "I would feel better getting out of Forks now."

I nodded. "You still have some clothes here from when you stayed the last time."

"Okay," she said. She got up and went to the guest room.

Bing.

I grabbed my phone off the table to see that I had a text message from Alice.

 _Alice: Hey, Bella. I know that I am probably one of the last people that you want to talk to, but I want you to know that I hope this doesn't change our friendship. Truthfully, I don't think that I have had any other friends besides the two of you. I have grown to think the both of you as sisters. Please don't leave me because of this._

I wiped away more tears that fell down my face.

 _Bella: This doesn't change a thing, Ali. I just need some time to wrap my head around it all._

I walked upstairs to my room, and the first thing that I did was go to look at myself in the mirror. My nose was swollen from all of the blows that I took. My upper lip was busted. I had so many bruises on my cheeks.

I quickly turned my head to stop looking at myself. I couldn't handle it anymore. Once my bag was packed, I went to the guest room that Rosalie has basically claimed her room because she has stayed here more than she has her own place.

"Ready?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Ready." We made our way to her Mercedes and started to head towards Forks. "I let Emmett know that we are going away for a bit. I'm pretty sure that he will tell Edward." I nodded. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said and let out a yawn.

She giggled. "Okay, Bella. I see you."

I chuckled, and I didn't realize how much pain I was in until I smiled. "OW!" I yelled out.

Rosalie hissed. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I just can't laugh or smile. Alice texted me."

"Yeah, she texted me too. What did you say back to her?" Rosalie hit the interstate, and we were on our way back home to Forks.

I sighed. "I told her that it doesn't change a thing. I just need my space from the family. What did you tell her?"

"I told her that we are all still friends. I mentioned that it brought up some memories that I have ignored for a long time. She said that she understood and that she is there for us whenever we are ready."

"Sounds good. Did you tell Emmett about how you were thought of Royce during the incident?" Rosalie tensed up a bit. "We are getting away. We will be okay."

"I haven't said a thing to him." She sighed. "I think that I want to go back to therapy."

"That would be good for you," I said.

She gave me a sincere look. "I think that you should go too." I did a quick double take. "I mean don't divulge any Cullen information, but I think that it would help you a lot too."

I shrugged. "I will think about it." We drove in comfortable silence to Forks. After about three hours, we pulled up to her dad's house. "I'm going to stay at Nonni's house tonight."

She nodded. "Okay, so you want me to stay with you?"

I shook my head. "No. I kind of want to be alone now."

"Okay," she said. We gave each other a big hug. "Text me if you need anything."

"I will." I grabbed my bag and walked across the street to my Nonni's house. Nonni were big influencers in Forks, and since the whole town loved them, the bank let me keep the house with no payments.

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I walked upstairs to my old room. "What am I doing?" I asked myself outloud. I grabbed my phone and a blanket on my way to the balcony that had a swing on it.

I scrolled through my messages and found the person that I need information from.

 _Bella: I need answers._

The reply was almost instant.

 _Edward: I know you do, Tesoro. How about when you come back to Seattle I will have them for you?_

I shook my head.

 _Bella: I need them now. I can't wait a few days for them._

 _Edward: Baby, this is not a discussion for text._

 _Bella: How am I supposed to get my answers now if you don't want to text about it?_

 _Edward: I'm on my way._

"Fuck."

 _Bella: Rosalie, I messed up. I texted Edward telling him that I need answers, but he didn't want to give me them over text message. He replied back saying that he is on his way. What should I do!?_

I didn't get a reply, but I saw the front door to her Dad's house open. "Is he bringing Emmett?" She called out. I shrugged. "I hope so."

"Text Emmett," I suggested. She flipped me off, and I had to hold back a chuckle because I didn't want my face to hurt anymore than it already does. "Seriously, though. What should I do?"

She held up a finger and went back inside. She came back out with two mugs and her own blanket. "Is the door unlocked?" I nodded. "Okay."

"What should I do, Rose?" I asked her once she sat down.

"What is your brain telling you to do? What is your heart telling you to do?" I gave her a knowing look. "Just answer me."

"My brain is telling me that I need space. My heart is telling me that Edward is it for me." I grabbed a mug and took a sip. "What do you think I should do?"

"Both," she said.

"How can I do both if they are telling me to do two different things? I might have had a relationship before this, but I never felt like this."

"When Edward gets here, keep your space. In the morning, go to the cemetery and talk. After that, you come back here and get your answers."

"When did you get so smart?" I asked her.

"I have always been," she said. "Go lay down in Nonni's room. I will wait up for them."

"Emmett is coming?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. Now go lay down."

I did the mature thing, and I stuck my tongue out at her. She laughed, and I went to bed in Nonni's room.

I woke up again to the sounds of birds chirping. "Oh the irony," I said to myself. I slowly got out of bed and went into the bathroom to get ready. I showered, brushed my teeth and hair, and I got dressed. I put on jean capris, black t-shirt, and gladiator sandals.

When I went downstairs to the kitchen, I saw that Edward was sitting at the kitchen table. "Morning," I whispered.

Edward looked at me, and he gave me a gentle smile. "Morning, Tesoro," he softly said back. "What are your plans for today?"

I sighed. "Well, I have a few people that I have to go talk to then I am going to the store." He nodded. "After that, the two of us are going to nice chat."

He looked conflicted. "I know that I've been very lenient with you on this whole thing, but you can't tell anyone else about my family."

I sighed. "Edward, the people that I want to talk to are dead. I can at least talk to them first."

A look of recognition flashed across his face. "Okay," he said with a nod. "Let me go to the store. You just head to where ever you need to go."

I made an odd noise since my face hurt like a bitch. "Edward Cullen in a grocery store. I would pay money for that."

He chuckled. "Maybe one day. Just let us handle going to the store. You do what you need to do." He finished his cup of coffee. "The sooner you get done what you need to get done, the sooner we can have our chat."

"Okay, boss." I grabbed my purse and walked out of the house.

I walked down the road and one block over to Forks cemetery. I walked over to a small blocked off area that had a gate around the four plots. "Hi, Papa. Hi, Nonni." I turned to the plot behind me. "Hi, Nonna Leona." I couldn't come to the cemetery and not say hello to Nonna Leona Hale.

"Boy, I have some shit to tell you all."


	7. Answers

**Chapter** **Seven: Answers**

"Well, I met someone." I let out a pity giggle. "His name is Edward Cullen. He is the brother of Rosalie's boyfriend." I turned to Nonna Leona. "He is perfect for her. You can probably see that, though." I turned back to Nonna. "Edward is really nice." I sighed. "I met his family. They seem wonderful. His Nonna Gia reminds me of you, Nonna." A tear fell down my face. "Anyways, there was an incident where Rose and I were at her studio." My heart started to thump loudly in my chest. "I was attacked, so was Rose." My whole body shivered just at the thought of that night. "Edward and Emmett came to the rescue with their dad and Jasper, their sister's boyfriend." I sighed. "Edward said that their last name was Maseni to the guy before he killed him. I passed out. When I woke up, I confronted him. He admitted who he really was." I sighed. "I still feel so strongly for him, but he is the epitome of who you all warned me to stay clear of."

The wind picked up, and I smiled.

"My brain is telling me to run and never look back, but my heart," my voice started to break, "my heart is telling me that no matter what happens. He will never hurt me."

I sighed. "Nonna, would I be foolish to listen to something that changes every five minutes or should I listen to something that never changes?"

My heart started to flutter in my chest. "Thoughts what I thought too, but I still need to wrap my head around it all."

Then it all flowed out of me. "I will be a big target for any rival families. I have seen mafia shows and movies. The girl is the first one that the rivals kidnap. I would not be a good kidnap victim. I wouldn't. I will probably stress bake, and they would keep me as a baker." I shook my head. "In television, the women would sit back and let the men run everything. Children would have very tight rules, and they become targets. Please don't get me started on the subject of goomahs."

I paused. "I guess that I am just being stupid." I shrugged. "In all seriousness, though. I do want him." I looked at my papa's headstone. "I'm sorry, Papa. I know that he is the kind of man that you told me to stay away from, but I can't."

I looked up at the sky to see that it was getting darker. "Well, I have not paid any attention to my surroundings. I'm going to head home. Thanks for listening." I kissed all four headstones and left.

When I arrived back to the house, Edward was on his laptop. "Hey, Bella. You ready for a talk?" I nodded. "Let me finish up writing this last email." I bundled myself up on the couch and waited. Few minutes later, he put his laptop down. "How are you doing?"

I shrugged. "I'm okay." I let out a pity chuckle. "Where are the other two?"

"Rosalie and Emmett are having breakfast with her Nonno." I nodded my head. "Do you want the back story or just answers?"

"All of it," I said without missing a beat.

He nodded. "Stefan Maseni is my ancestor that started the Maseni Familia. He inherited it from Anthony Cullen who moved from Ireland to Italy to learn the business. It passed down from generation to generation. Stefan Maseni and his long time friend, Lorenzo Plattioni, got caught up with Anthony. Since Anthony didn't have any relatives when he passed away, it was handed to Stefan. He made Lorenzo his second. They ran it for a good bit before it was passed on. As the head of the family changed, almost everything stayed the same. The Maseni's and Plattoni's ran the familia. Fast forward to my great-great-great grandfathers, they moved to the states to create something bigger. They changed the last names and the rules. The Maseni's took on the surname Cullen while the Plattoni's took on the surname Platt. Throughout the whole time the the two families have worked together. There has been a long line of men being born with a few females in the mix. It wasn't until my Nonni had my parents. They became a legal family."

I gulped. "I'm scared to ask this." Edward just looked at me. "Who is running the family currently?" I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't want to tell me the answer. "It's you isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yes, it's me. I'm in charge with Emmett is my second in command."

My heart dropped into my stomach. "I have seen some movies where the families deal with human trafficking and child pornogrophy. Are you one of them?"

"No," Edward said with a stern voice. "Anthony Cullen did have a hand in prostitution, but when my family moved here and changed the family, it stopped 110%."

"What do you have your hand in?" I wrapped my arms around my body.

He sighed. "Weapons. Gambling. Some drugs." My eyes widened. "I don't test them or use them. I have a guy that does it." Edward moved and sat on the coffee table in front of me. "Tesoro, I swear. I don't use. Mom would kill me."

"What role do women have?" I paused. "If I stayed, what role would I have?"

Edward gently rubbed my arm. "Any role you want, baby. Nonna Elisabeth decided to run the family with Nonno Raf. Nonna Gia decided to stay in loop with Nonno Giorgo, but she wasn't invested like Nonna Elisabeth. Mama is only invested when it came to her children. Other than that, she doesn't care to know to some circumstances. When it comes to family, she is all in. When it comes to the other stuff, she steps back. It's up to you on how involved you want to be."

"How big of a target is on my back? If we have kids how much of a target will they be?"

Edward smiled. "Kids? You want kids."

I let out a very un-lady like snort. "Yes. That is not the point."

He chuckled before he turned serious. "I'm not going to sit here and lie. You will have a target on your back, but I have to be 6 feet under before anything happens." He paused. "Nope. Not even then."

I timidly nodded. "What will happen to me if I choose not to be apart of this life?"

I could tell that question bothered him because he eyes darkened. "Nothing. I would leave you alone."

"Isn't there a rule about that? Aren't you supposed to hire a hitman to kill me?" I thought that was the norm for someone not in the family.

Again, too much TV.

He sighed. "Yes. That person is supposed to die." I wanted to vomit. "Not you, Tesoro. Like I said earlier, I will not let anyone hurt you. I don't fucking care what the situation is. No one will bring you any harm under my watch. If you choose to be with me or not, I will always protect you."

"Why?" He raises his eyebrow. "Why am I so different?"

He smiled. "When I first laid my eyes on you at Sapori, I knew that you were meant to be my queen."

Whoa. Queen? Queen of the Mafia?

"There was something about you that drew me in. Then, I got to know you. I knew that I had to have you."

"Had to have me? I'm not someone's property, Edward Maseni or Cullen or whatever your last name is."

He chuckled. "My legal name is Edward Anthony Maseni Cullen." I shook my head. "What other questions do you have?"

"Will you fuck other woman?" I bluntly asked.

"Fuck no," he said without missing a beat. "I would never bring another woman into our family." I let out the breath that I didn't realize that I was holding in. Edward grabbed my hand. "I promise Tesoro. You don't have to worry about that."

"Okay," I said.

Edward leaned back into the chair. "Trust me, Bella. If I ever see you with another man, you would really see a side of me that you hopefully will never see."

My heart skipped a beat. The way he said that scared me a little bit, but it also turned me on.

"Okay," I said for the millionth time. "I still want a little bit of time."

He nodded. "Okay, Tesoro." He stood up. "Can I have a hug? I have to go back to Seattle."

I gave him a hug. I almost caved into him.

 **Almost.**

He kissed the top of my head. "Bye, Edward."

He frowned. "Bye, Bella." He grabbed his jacket and walked out.

I stared at the door behind him. "Bella, what the fuck are you doing?" I loudly said to myself. I ran to the door and threw it open. "Edward!" I called out to get his attention. He was about to get into the car, but he turned around. I ran to him, and I jumped in his arms. Before he could get a word in, I smashed my lips on his. We kissed for a few moments before we pulled apart. "I will see you later."

I tried to unwrap my legs from his waist, but I couldn't. He held them to his body. "I don't think so," he said. He smashed his lips to mine.

A girl could get used to this.

When we pulled apart again, he let me get down. "Bye," he said. He got into the car and winked.

I stuck my tongue out at him and went inside. Not even seconds later, Rosalie busted through the front door. "Isabella Marie," she said with a smirk on her face. "What was that?"

I blushed. "You saw that?"

She giggled. "You bet your sweet little ass I did. I felt like I had to watch out the window. I heard you yell Edward's name, so I had to check on you." She threw herself on the couch next to me. "I thought I was going to have to break something up, but no no no. I got a show."

I laughed. "Okay, I get it. You saw Edward and I kissing." I paused. "How hot did it look though?"

"Fucking hot," she stated. I blushed as a response. "In all honesty, are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm perfect. Is Emmett still here?"

She shook my head. "No, He was in the front seat waiting for Edward." My face dropped, and my cheeks heated up. "He won't say anything to you."

I shook my head. "Bullshit. This is Emmett we are talking about."

She nodded. "True." She paused. "Do you want to head back tonight? Dad and Nonno are just sitting watching sports. I feel pointless just hanging out here when I could be back at home getting some designs done." I nodded. "I'm going to go home and tell them that I am leaving. Do you want to come with me?"

"I will stay here and get some of my shit together. Your dad can come over and grab some of the food that was just bought." She nodded. "I will come over when I get my stuff together."

She nodded. "Okay, I will let Dad know." She walked out of the house.

I went upstairs to my room to grab my bag that I brought and my purse.

 _Bella: Rosalie and I are coming home._

Edward's name popped up on my phone. "Hello."

"Tomorrow night, I am taking you on a date. We will go to Skyscraper restaurant," he said.

"No," I said. "You will come over to my house, and I will make you Nonna's carbonara," I said.

"Sounds great. I will see you tomorrow at 7," he said.

"See you tomorrow," I said. We hung up, and I did something that I have not done in a long time.

I squealed.


	8. The Date

**Chapter** **Eight: The Date**

"You can do this, Bella," I told myself for the thousandth time. I have spent all morning getting everything that I needed together for tonight's dinner. I decided that I was going to make a caprese salad with an Italian vinaigrette with Nonna's carbonara for dinner.

I finished making the caprese salad this morning, and I was almost done with getting all of the ingredients together for the pasta.

"You can do this, Bella," I told myself.

Two more hours passed, and it was time for the date. The stove was keeping the pasta hot, the salad and dessert were in the fridge, and the wine was in the ice bucket chilling on the table.

My whole body still hurt from the fight, but this seemed worth it to me.

I was wearing my hair down and straight with light makeup. My outfit for tonight was a brown high-waisted suede skirt and a cream lace tank top that met the top of my skirt. I had just finished lighting the candles in the living room when the doorbell rang.

"You got this, Bella," I told myself again. I opened up the door to Edward holding a big bouquet of red roses. "Hello, Edward. Come on in."

"Hello, Tesoro." He kissed my cheek. "These are for you."

I smiled and grabbed the roses. "Thank you. These are beautiful." I led him into the kitchen. I put the roses in a beautiful crystal vase and set them as the centerpiece for my kitchen island. "Would you like something to drink, Edward? I have white wine, water, and beer."

"Wine would be great," he said. I got our wine, set the table, and sat down. "This looks wonderful, baby."

I blushed. "Thank you." We started eating. "How was your drive back to Seattle last night? Have you been busy?"

Edward nodded. "It was good. I haven't been too busy. I got some business done and relaxed. That is about it." I took a sip of wine. "How was your drive? What did you do?"

"It was good. I just hung around and cooked."

Edward winked at me. "So, I know some things about you, but what is the one thing that no one else knows about. Not even Rosalie."

I put my finger to my chin and tapped it. "Not even Rosalie? That is a really hard one." I sat there for a few minutes. "Okay, so you can't tell anyone about this because it is so mean and bad." Edward chuckled and nodded. "This is probably very inappropriate, but if you are interested in me, you will get over it."

"Should I be scared?" Edward chuckled out.

I blushed. "Maybe." I shook my head. "Gah, I can't believe I am actually telling someone about this. There was this one time that I went to La Push Beach with friends from high school." I laughed and shook my head. "La Push Beach has two different bathrooms. The ladies room was closed for maintenance. I really had to pee, and I wasn't going to go in the ocean. I'm not a mermaid." Edward chuckled. "So, I went into the men's room. Mike was in one of the stalls, and boy at that moment, I wished I had the balls to go in the ocean."

Edward chuckled. "I know where this is going."

"The stall doors were all the way to the ground, so you couldn't see my swim shoes. I could hear a whole lot of things going on in the stall with Mike." I blushed.

"Boys tend to be disgusting." He looked serious. "Not me."

I laughed. "No, he wasn't taking a shit. I wish he was. He was getting blown by Jessie while he was dating Jessie's twin sister, Jessica!" Edward's jaw dropped. "I felt so bad. The only reason why I knew it was Jessie was because Mike kept repeating his name. I knew it wasn't Jessica because she was surfing." I shook my head. "I was in and out before they were finished."

"How is that your biggest secret? Did Jessica find out?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I tried to tell her but every time it came up, her brother walked in to the room or to where we are. The worst part is that when they walked out of the bathroom together, Jessie went to his boyfriend and tongued the hell out of him."

"How is that your biggest secret?" Edward asked again.

I shrugged. "I really don't have anything besides that. I'm an open book, and I don't really do much." Edward leaned back in his chair and stared at me. "Do I have anything on my face?"

"Be honest, Baby." He leaned forward. "How are you really feeling?"

I sighed and moved the napkin off my lap. "I'm okay. My whole body still hurts." I shrugged. "But, I got my ass kicked, so I don't expect to be doing backflips and cartwheels any time soon."

"You can do backflips and cartwheels?" Edward asked with his eyebrow raised.

I shook my head no. "Hell no, but if I could do them, I know not to expect it."

Edward nodded, and the two of us finished eating in a comfortable silence. "Dance with me."

Is he serious? "We don't have any music playing?" He chuckled and pulled out his phone. He started to playing one of my favorite songs, Clair De Lune by Debussy. "How did you know?"

He stood up and walked over to me. "I might have had some help from a certain blonde." He held out his hand. "May I have this dance, mi-lady?"

I smiled. "Why of course you can, sir." I saw Edward gulp.

OH! Does he have a kinky side?

"Just so you know, I have two left feet. I can't promise that I won't step on your toes." Edward chuckled and lifted me up to stand on his feet. "Or I can dance on your toes."

"It's all about the leading, Tesoro." Edward started dancing us around my kitchen.

"Why do you call me that?" Edward looked at me. "Tesoro."

"I've been waiting my whole life for someone like you. You are the one that I want. Like how a pirate wants the treasure. I want you." My heart skipped me a beat. "Bella, I know that my life is unconventional and dangerous. I can **promise** you that you won't be involved if I have anything to do about it."

I sighed. "You asked me what my biggest secret is that Rosalie doesn't even know. There is actually something that she doesn't."

Edward nodded. "That did not sound like that was biggest secret." He paused. "What is it?"

"I'm scared." I sighed. "My Papa was injured in the line of duty which is why he started to help Nonno out with the flipping business. Two years after he was shot, he was out at a house making sure that everything was on track because I had something with school earlier that day, so Nonno and Papa weren't able to make it out. Nonna and I were making cookies because it is what we do, and then we heard gun shots. It sounded like it was a few houses down from us." Tears fell down my face. "I remember Nonni saying Papa's name. The two of them bolted out of the house. They told me stay, but I didn't listen to them." Edward wiped a few tears off my face. "I was the one that found dad in the backyard of the house."

Edward kissed the top of my head. "What has you scared about that? Did the same person murder Nonni?"

I shook my head. "No, Nonno refused to stop working because that is who he was. He worked himself to death. This was the last house that he ever built." I looked around. "I don't think that I could ever part with it." I sighed. "Nonna died two years later from a broken heart. After Nonno died, she wasn't the same Nonna. She did everything she could for me, but once she realized that I would be okay on my own, she let herself go in her sleep."

Edward held me closer to himself. "What has you scared, baby? Talk to me."

"My dad's murder is still out there. That is the main reason why I moved out of Forks. Nonni didn't want me to be around that in case the guy had a vendetta. They never found him." I shook my head. "I'm sorry. You probably think I'm stupid and psychotic, but if you want to get to know me, then this is me."

Edward's face turned hard. "Do you know who did it?"

"The man who shot my father while he was on duty was apart of some backyard gang from a neighboring town that did it for some initiation. He got caught, but we don't know who pulled the trigger that actually killed me." I shrugged. "That is the part that scares me."

Edward held me close to him. "He will not touch you."

I could sense something in his tone, but I didn't want to question it.

"What about you? I get the mafia thing is a secret, but there has to be something else about you. What about you?"

Edward danced me around the kitchen island before he stopped to think of an answer. "I don't really have anything. I'm being honest. The biggest thing is the mafia. The rest kind of comes with the territory."

Edward and I danced around for a little longer. "Does this night have to end?" I whispered and lifted me up onto my kitchen island.

"It doesn't have to, baby," he said and leaned his forehead on mine.

I gave him a small smile. "Do you want to watch a movie?" He nodded. "I have a few movies that range in genre. I have _Fifty Shades, Twilight, Princess Bride, and the Goonies_ to name a few."

Edward raised his eyebrow. "I have never heard of the _Goonies."_

It was my turn to raise my eyebrow. "Uh, excuse me?" I hoped off the counter. "Well, if you don't mind me, I'm going to put on a pair of pajamas, and then, we are going to watch it." I kissed his cheek. "Make yourself at home in the living room, and I will be right back."

I quickly and ungracefully hurried my ass up the stairs to my bedroom. I quickly stripped down, added a little extra deodorant (just in case), and put on the nicest pajamas that I had available to me.

A silk blue pajama tank and shorts.

When I went downstairs, I saw that Edward had taken his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves.

Do I see a tattoo peaking through?

He was sitting on the couch at an angle, so I could snuggle up to him. I got the movie playing and snuggled up to him. "Prepare to laugh at the dance." He just looked confused, but somewhat kept his eyes to the screen.

I don't know when, but I fell asleep before the end of the movie.


End file.
